At the 2024 American Farmers and Ranchers Convention in Oklahoma City, Associate Farm Editor Reagan Calk had the chance to visit with State Climatologist Gary McManus about recent weather patterns and a weather outlook.

Due to above-normal temperatures lately, McManus mentioned the chance of a false spring.

“That is what you worry about when you get this above-normal temperature regime setting in, and then in March or early April, even, you get this big-time freeze event, and then, of course, that does a lot of damage to the wheat crop, it does a lot of damage to our orchards and things of that nature,” McManus said. “It is something to keep an eye on.”

McManus said El Nino is expected to fade out by the summer, then La Nina is expected to form quickly.

“We will just have to wait and see on the strength,” McManus said. “Strength does matter with La Nina, of course, as it does with El Nino.”

McManus said this event will certainly tilt the odds towards more drought if there is another full year of La Nina.

As for TODAY- it's all about Fire Danger across the Region. Red Flag and/or Fire Weather Warnings stretch from the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles all across the body of Oklahoma and into western Arkansas. Click here for the latest situation report from the Oklahoma Dept of Ag- and click here for a regional map showing where fires are burning across the southern plains(from the Oklahoman)

We are looking for 70s and 80s today- then the cold front headed our way will drop temps 30 to 40 degrees before we have another warm up by this coming weekend. It's a hold onto your hat kind of a day!



National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures. 

The newest addition to the National Family is Dakota Moss- and Livestock Risk Services.

National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.



Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year have until March 15, 2024, to revise elections and sign contracts. Both safety net programs, delivered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provide vital income support to farmers who experience substantial declines in crop prices or revenues for the 2024 crop year. In Oklahoma producers have completed 23,292 contracts to date, representing 49% of the more than 47,000 expected contracts.     

“Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage programs provide excellent risk protection, for market declines, at no cost to the producer. While we always hope for strong markets, anyone involved in production agriculture knows, the only thing certain is uncertainty,” said Steve Kouplen, State Executive Director for FSA in Oklahoma. "Many producers may be holding off on making your program elections pending planting decisions or maybe you’re working with a local advisor to consider how changes in the effective reference price might impact your election decisions. Please contact your local FSA county office as soon as possible to set an appointment so you’re on the books well in advance of the March 15 deadline.”   

R.A. Brown’s Tucker Brown Advocates for Beef Industry as a Trailblazer

At the 2024 CattleCon held in Orlando, Florida, I had the chance to talk with beef advocate and sixth-generation cattle rancher from Throckmorton, Texas, Tucker Brown.

Our coverage from the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Orlando is being powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater.

Brown is part of the second group of Trailblazers, a program developed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, that takes advocacy to an unprecedented level by giving participants the tools and training they need to promote beef to new audiences while addressing and correcting myths. 

“Really, what I see it as is a response team,” Brown said. “A response team for the beef industry, for NCBA, and for the cattle industry as a whole for when there are questions for the consumers, we have a team ready to answer that and to be able to reach the number of people we can reach quickly.”

As social media plays a large role in promoting and defending beef to various audiences, Brown said part of the program includes social media training to teach participants how to post and use the correct terminology.

Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop Condition Ratings Look Promising for End of February

According to the latest Oklahoma Crop Progress and Condition Report released on February 26th, winter wheat conditions rated 70 percent good to excellent, 24 percent fair, and 6 percent poor to very poor. The January summary for winter wheat in Oklahoma showed the crop at 63% good to excellent.

In Kansas this week- the 2024 wheat crop stands at 57% good to excellent- that's versus 54% good to excellent a month ago.

In Texas- the 2024 wheat crop is now at 46% good to excellent

Pasture and range conditions in Oklahoma rated 29 percent good to excellent, 51 percent fair, and 20 percent poor to very poor. In January- pasture/range ratings were at 31% good to excellent.

The Texas Pasture and Range conditions for this week are at 20% good to excellent.

Regular weekly crop progress reports begin officially next week.

Picture above is from Brian Arnall @OSU_NPK on X- a field he was measuring mid February with a N-Rich Wheat Strip.

Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner,” published electronically by Dr. Peel and Mark Johnson. Today, Dr. Peel talks about the latest Cattle on Feed report.

The latest Cattle on Feed report pegged the February 1 feedlot inventory at 11.8 million head, just fractionally above year ago levels. Feedlot inventories are declining after rising above year-earlier levels last October. Feedlot placements in January were 92.5 percent of last year, above the pre-report average estimate but within the range of estimates by some analysts. Some analysts were expecting a larger negative impact on placements from the winter storms in January. January marketings were even with one year ago. 

The February Cattle on Feed report also includes a summary of 2023 final feedlot numbers and feedlot industry structure. Total feedlot capacity was reported at 17.1 million head, up from 16.5 million head in 2000. Feedlot capacity as a percent of total cattle inventories has increased over the past 25 years to a record level of 19.6 percent in 2024 (Figure 1). On average feedlot inventories have averaged about 83 percent of total feedlot capacity over the past 25 years. Feedlot capacity utilization is lower during cyclical expansions and higher during liquidation periods. For example, during herd expansion from 2014-2017, average feedlot inventories were 76.3 percent of capacity, while during herd liquidation from 2020-2024, January feedlot inventories were an average of 84.8 percent of total feedlot capacity.

At the OCIA/OGI Meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Farm Reporter Maci Carter had the chance to visit with the Executive Director of Oklahoma Crop Improvement, Robert Calhoun. Carter and Calhoun talk about seed transfer, the Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association, and more.

“A seed transfer is the movement of a certified seed class from a grower to an approved retail facility that can, in turn, resell that seed to an end-user, to one of our farmers,” Calhoun said.



Certified seed is a premium product of seed varieties that are protected through the Plant Protection Act. Because of this, Calhoun said these varieties must be handled in a certain way.

“When we move the seed, we need to make sure that it is going to someone that is an approved facility to handle that seed, and they know how to properly take care of it and reduce any type of chances for contamination,” Calhoun said. “One of the things they need to have is a transfer form. This is the official documentation that will follow the seed to the location so that the seed is documented and accounted for.”

To partake in this program, Calhoun said organizations must be members of the Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association.

The Quartermaster Creek 20th Annual Spring Bull Sale is coming up on February 28th in Leedey, Oklahoma. There will be 157 two-year old bulls for sale and some commercial females.

Click here for the sale catalog.

Click here for the sale videos

For more information:

Mike & Annie Switzer - Cell: 580-445-8275